


A Force of Nature 自然の力

by TheHoplessRomantic



Series: The Kusanagi Saga [1]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Demon, F/M, Fox - Freeform, Japanese, Katana, Kitsune, Manga/Anime, Samurai, Teenagers, Yôkai
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-16
Updated: 2019-05-01
Packaged: 2019-10-11 06:07:58
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,408
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17441375
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheHoplessRomantic/pseuds/TheHoplessRomantic
Summary: 15 year old Takeru Inoue has quite a few problems for someone his age, however the biggest has to be his arranged marriage to one very beautiful but peculiar girl who just so happens to be a warrior of the mythical kitsune yokai clan. While this is going on, forces beyond comprehension are moving to ensure dominance, and Takeru's future bride is caught in the thick of it!





	1. Megumi goes to School

The alarm couldn't have gone off at a worse time.

Takeru Inoue had instantly wanted to smash his beside alarm clock and go back to sleep, but the moment he made his fist in preparation to do said smash he remembered that it was Monday.

Monday in a September for the sixteen year old meant that he had less than an hour to shower and eat breakfast before he had to go to school. As much as he wanted to go back to sleep he pulled his stiff form out of the bed and shuffled down the hall to the bathroom.

He tried to rub the sleep out of his eyes as he opened the door, 'Hopefully I can just keep going today without any more distractions...'

He lowered his hand and was instantly met with a bright light. Going in unprepared Takeru covered his eyes with one arm and his surprise became vocal. "Damn! Who left the light on?"

He lowered his arm, and suddenly wish he hadn't when he saw a young woman standing in front of the sink. The woman appeared to be no more than eighteen in age with long black hair that reached her waist in length and was straight not to mention slick and wet. She wore nothing but a bath towel that was wrapped around her slender waist. As much as he tried not to stare he couldn't help but notice how...well-endowed the woman was, not to mention her other curves. He had a strange sense of déjà vu come over him at that moment.

However what stood out the most was the fact that poking out of her hair on either side of her head were a pair of canine ears that were black.

The woman was staring too, though not with ogling eyes. Her stare was one that, like the saying went, had the look that could kill and she was drilling holes into Takeru. He broke off his stare and raised his hands, ready for what might just be coming his way.

"S-Sorry, Megumi! I didn't notice the light was on until-gah!"

A small wash pan hit him in the forehead and he went flying back out the door. He landed on the wooden floor with a thud and the door slammed shut as he recovered.

After realizing his mistake and complaining under his breath about women Takeru went on downstairs to see that breakfast was already being served.

An older woman in her late thirties saw him come into the room. She had short brown hair that was in a bun and wore an apron over a simple yellow sundress and was diligently working preparing breakfast. Yumi Inoue was a single mother of two and she was on top of her game in the mornings, being up before her own children to help them get their day started. She already had a plate ready for Takeru before he had entered the kitchen, "Morning dear-oh! What happened to you?" She was talking about his slightly bruised forehead.

Before Takeru could answer a disinterested voice spoke out, "Looks like Megumi happened to him, Mom." The voice came from a young woman sitting at the table. She looked similar to her mother but wore thin rimmed glasses and had her hair long. She was Aki Inoue, Takeru's eighteen year old soon-to-be-going-to-college older sister, and her attitude like any other day was already terrible.

"Yeah, thanks for noticing, sis," Takeru sarcastically replied. He took the plate from his mother and went to sit at the table. The attitudes between the two siblings was sarcastic at worst though they got along the majority of the time.

"I forgot to knock on the door as she was coming out. She took it a bit too far in my opinion," Takeru said before helping himself to his food.

"Little bro you always knock on a closed door before entering. Its common courtesy," said Aki as she finished up her meal. Though she had gotten up earlier than the rest of her family she had been hard at work on school stuff. Her text books were stacked next to her chair and a couple were even on the table though well enough out of the way of anyone else. She was going to college to learn to be a teacher the following spring.

'Odd because she can't teach herself basic manners such as being polite,' Takeru thought as he finished his glass of milk in one swig. He had little time to dilly dally. Thanks to his run in with Megumi he had no time to shower so he'd have to skip that part of his routine. "Still she didn't have to throw a pan at me..."

Yumi sat down at the small table between her children, "Did you apologize to her?"

Takeru nodded once, "First thing out of my mouth but she wouldn't listen and..." he sighed and looked at the clock over the oven. The clock read 7:45. He had only fifteen minutes before the bus would arrive at the stop, "I don't have time for this. Thanks for breakfast, mom." He got up and after putting his dishes in the sink he ran upstairs to finish getting ready for school.

He didn't notice Megumi anywhere when he entered his room nor did she appear to be in the bathroom either. He quickly got dressed into his school uniform and grabbed his bag before he ran back down stairs.

He turned to the kitchen to say farewell to his family and that is where he saw her.

Megumi was standing in the doorway, holding a school bag in her hands and wearing the girls' uniform of the same school that Takeru went to. The uniform was made up of a cherry blossom pink jacket with a white undershirt and a short forest green skirt. She also wore black pantyhose that gave her a more mature look despite not looking a day over eighteen. She wore a slightly curved white hairpin in her hair on the right side while the full length of her hair was tied into a single tail in the back. She wore a dark grey knit cap that covered most of her head and-most importantly-her fox ears from sight.

Yet that wasn't what got Takeru's attention. He recognized the uniform.

"Isn't that Aki's old uniform?" said Takeru.

His mother was on hand to confirm this. "We found out that Megumi and Aki share similar sizes. Quite a coincidence, huh?"

Well it does look like it fits...except for one area.' Takeru noticed that despite how her jacket was buttoned up to the middle it was impossible to go any higher because Megumi's chest was much bigger than the shirt would allow but by some miracle it held on.

He had to look away before Megumi caught him staring again. Though he could take solace in the fact that there was no wash pan nearby he was afraid of her using something else as a weapon to hurt him.

"I'm glad it works for you, Megumi," said Aki, being friendly this early was a rarity for her.

Megumi only nodded once, and Takeru could tell she was still angry with him. Not just for earlier but for a variety of reasons. Like any of it was his fault.

Takeru turned his eyes to look at the clock again. It was nearing the time. "We'd better get to the stop or we'll miss the bus."

Megumi turned to Takeru's mother and bowed politely before leaving the house, leaving the door wide open for Takeru.

"Takeru..."

Takeru stopped after his mother said his name, "Yeah mom?"

"Be patient and careful about Megumi. I'm sure we don't need to worry about her but just...don't tell anyone about you and her. I don't know what people would think of you if..."

Takeru stopped her there. He knew what she was trying to imply. "I know, mom. I won't tell anyone. Though to be honest, even if anyone were to find out, I doubt anyone would believe any of it."

"What, about what she is or you two being engaged at such a young age?" said Aki out of nowhere, just to smite her brother.

Though the ploy worked it ultimately had no pay off. That was the last thing Takeru wanted to talk about this morning and he had other things to worry about. Like being late for school for instance. "Talk to you later." He opened the door and ran outside.

The bus stop nearest to Takeru's home was only two blocks away. If he was living on a normal street in any other city he would make it there with time to spare.

However, he lived at the family shrine in Tokyo and it was at the edge of the city. Traffic was nonexistent thankfully but he was running late. On a normal day the whole schedule went like this: leave the house at 7:30, get to the stop at :40 and chill for the last twenty minutes. He'd be lucky to reach the stop with any time to spare today because of all the ruckus from this morning. It wasn't like he had any of his friends waiting for him, he just liked the peace and quiet of being the only one at the bus stop.

Today, and maybe until he graduated, that was going to change.

He made it to the stop with less than five minutes to kill, and Megumi was standing like a statue on the edge of the curb. She wasn't out of breath and so there was no evidence of her having ran to the bus stop and Takeru was almost out of breath when he approached her.

"How the hell did you get here so fast?"

Calmly and coldly she replied, "I walked."

"Oh..." 'Wait why am I surprised that she beat me here? She's not normal to begin with!' "By the way, I just want to say sorry about earlier. I'm not used to having someone other than Aki use the bathroom so early in the morning, and usually I beat her to it."

She continued to look ahead across the road, not even turning to look at him, "Next time..."

"Huh?"

"If it happens again I will do much worse than use a wash pan on your head. You'll get a taste of Shinohana's blade," she threatened him, keeping her tone calm but ice cold threatening to the point it made Takeru shiver. Shinohana was the katana that Megumi normally had on her most of the time but thankfully wasn't on her now.

Takeru actually wanted to pull his hair out from his head. How in the hell can she say that over a simple accident? "Man, you sure know how to ruin a sign of good will. Do you enjoy threatening people or is it just me?"

This time she turned to him, her eyes were sky blue in color but while they were beautiful she still had the looks that kill, "Preferably, much like last time, I'd rather cut you down like the swine that you are." She slowly closed her eyes and returned to facing the road, "But...I am honor bound to protect the Inoue family and it's shrine. As the oldest daughter of the Kitsune Clan, it is my duty to protect you and your family, despite how I personally feel about the situation."

Good thing the two were alone for a few minutes, otherwise Megumi would not have said any of that out loud. As it turned out Takeru's family shrine was more than just a tourist attraction. It was also home to another family. A family of animal yokai (demons in human form) called the Kitsune (fox) of which Megumi was a part of.

Though you may ask, how does a family of demons live in a shrine that had been maintained by the same family for multiple generations?

As simple as changing clothes apparently, because according to Takeru's mother the Kitsune Clan had been watching over the family for years in plain sight and in human form, yet it was only until very recently that Takeru discovered their existence.

And it had happened under the most unusual of circumstances, of which the results turned out to be rather life changing for not only the two families in general but also to Takeru and Megumi personally.


	2. Flashback

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How Takeru and Megumi ended up in their predicament...

It had been three days ago that Takeru had gone to the forest near Mt. Fuji with his friends and despite being told more than once to stay on the correct paths Takeru had wandered off and had gotten lost. He had kept walking and walking for hours without any luck of finding anyone. Then just as it was getting dark he came across something he had never seen in the area before. A hot spring that had no evidence of human contact which was impossible but he rolled with it despite knowing that fact. Soon though he not discovered a somehow previously undiscovered hot spring but also a person that was using it. In a scene straight out of an anime Takeru had stumbled upon a girl bathing in the spring. He had been overcome with shock (not just for seeing a naked girl for the first time in his life) but also to see the fox ears upon her head and the single white tail that came from her backside. He screamed and ran off but the girl chased him down like a mad woman and threatened to kill him. Yet she found she couldn't as she was attacked by a bipedal toad monster wielding a sword. Takeru wished he had been dreaming as he watched a fox girl fight a toad monster and the fear that whoever won would kill him afterward. He ran again and was once again cornered by the girl. She stared at him with those cold blue eyes and raised her sword to kill him but the toad demon had survived the previous fight and struck her down with his own sword. This toad demon spoke about how he was going to taste fox meat for the first time in his life and was gloating about it, but he stopped short of doing this when Takeru took up the girl's sword to defend not only himself but the girl as well.

Takeru had threatened the creature, though he knew full well that he stood no chance against him. He wasn't going to die on his knees. To hell with that, he'd rather die standing. The toad laughed and readied himself to pounce on the two helpless victims when he was suddenly sliced into many pieces by yet another sword. He hadn't seen it coming. Takeru stood over the girl with his hands shaking while holding onto the katana as the stranger who had saved his life approached him calmly. Dressed in a black and blue kimono that had armor on the shoulders, the man had ears similar to the girl but had eight tails instead of simply one and colored black instead of white.

The man said not a word as he took the sword from Takeru's hands before he picked the now unconscious girl up into his arms and beckoned him to follow.

Within an hour Takeru found himself at home and after talking with the police about his whereabouts and clearing all that up, he told his mother the truth about what he had seen. He had expected her to call him crazy or say it was a dream, but to the boy's surprise she said that they weren't supposed to be seen. Takeru didn't know what she meant by that.

An hour later Takeru discovered why when the Kitsune Clan appeared in his back yard. There had been at least ten of them all dressed in period outfits, dressed like ancient samurai though their style was as much flash as flair with varying colors. Takeru, his mother as well as his sister Aki, were approached by the head of the Kitsune Clan, a man named Gunjo. A tall, very muscled, and intimidating man Gunjo introduced the Inoue family to his lovely wife Izayoi, his two children, and servants. The children included the man who had saved Takeru earlier who happened to be the oldest son named Shingo, and the girl who Takeru had run afoul earlier.

Her name was Megumi, and she had eyed Takeru with anger and a red face, no doubt embarrassed from earlier though not for the reason Takeru thought.

At first Takeru thought he was in trouble, but he couldn't have been more wrong. Turns out that Megumi was in the biggest amount of trouble, as she had broken a long standing law of allowing herself to be seen by humans. Not just any human mind you, but the youngest child of the family she was meant to protect. Such a law was put in place to keep the existence of yokai a secret from the humans, and the fact that she had broken it was a highly punishable offense. However, this was put to the side when Shingo informed his father that Takeru had stood up to defend Megumi despite the fact he was facing a demon. Though he did nothing other than hold his ground, Gunjo noted that it had stalled the toad demon long enough for Shingo to arrive and save them both.

Gunjo was very grateful for what Takeru had done for his daughter though Megumi had nothing to say about it. It was because of this that Gunjo made a request to the head of the Inoue family (this being Yumi, Takeru's mother): he requested that Takeru and Megumi get married.

Needless to say this was met with shock and awe from both sides. More shock to the Inoue family and awe came from the kitsune servants on hand, but for Megumi she had shook with rage.

Yumi, while in shock at what was being asked of her son, said that Takeru was too young to marry on top of it all being so sudden. Gunjo spoke that it would honor his family if Takeru accepted the proposal. Takeru had no say in the matter since he was paralyzed and dumbfounded.

Eventually it came down to an agreement: Takeru and Megumi would marry when he turned eighteen, but they would be secretly engaged until then. The fact she was a yokai would be kept secret from all outside sources, naturally. Then to make matters even worse for both the teens, Gunjo had made Megumi Takeru's personal bodyguard on top of his future wife.

And that was that, without any say from the future bride and groom in the matter.


	3. First Class

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Megumi takes her seat in her first class as she masquerades as a human, and Takeru is biting his nails under stress over what could happen next.

Megumi was still seething three days later after everything had gone down. She got no word in edge wise when the proposal had been given and even though she had argued with her parents they refused to budge. Instead they reminded her that it was her actions that nearly got her killed, not to mention nearly got a member of the Inoue family killed which was the family that the kitsune clan was meant to protect. She had made her bed and now had to lie in it regardless if she liked it or not.

And she hated it.

'Why must I be paired with this human?' She thought as she sat in the farthest seat in the back of the bus. She looked out the window and saw the houses and buildings pass it by at a steady speed, and she found she couldn't concentrate on anything besides her frustrations. Of course, part of the agreement of her engagement to the Inoue boy was a change of scenery: per her mother's orders Megumi was forced to live with Takeru's family until his eighteenth birthday. She had not been happy about this change as she loved her family home hidden in the fog of Mt. Fuji, but as she was told by her mother: 'You know the way of combat but even less of the human world, so it was in your best interest to go know more to support your future husband.'

'Oh, Mother you know less about the human world than I do,' Megumi thought. She was a little more knowledgeable than some would think but it was all from what she could see from the boundaries around the Inoue shrine and in the books she had read after she let curiosity get the better of her.

So, after being pretty much kicked out of her home and forced into a house of humans Megumi had used the last two days to research human activity and try to blend in so she could do her duty.

'Protect your fiancé,' had been what Shingo had told her. That had been the last thing he had said as she walked out the door of her family home.

'Fiancé? Hah! That boy is no better than a peasant to me.'

Megumi had kept her anger in check since moving into the Inoue household and had even managed to forget about Takeru. Until the incident this morning anyway. Second time in less than a week had that boy seen her in such a state drove her to want to kill him. But such a thing would be going against her duty, not to mention honor, as a kitsune samurai.

To defend the Inoue family and uphold the honor of the Kitsune clan.

This filled her with pride and as such she wanted it to stay that way. Being a warrior was all that Megumi had wanted in her life, and if she had a hand in her destiny that was what she was going to be.

But fate seemed to get a laugh out of putting her in less than favorable situations. Despite this she tried to think of her duty...instead of scratching the itch that was to hurt her 'fiancé'.

The bus arrived at the school a few minutes later, and Megumi saw to no surprise that Takeru had waited for her.

"I'll give you credit, it takes guts to sit in the back of the bus by yourself...people tend to get sick back there but it gets cleaned up each time," he said, putting his bag over his shoulder. He looked over to her and noticed she had a grimaced expression. "Something wrong?"

She shook her head. 'Not clean enough...' Megumi thought while keeping her mouth tightly shut. She had actually wanted to say that thought out loud but the smell of bleach, detergent, and not to mention the lingering scent of vomit had overwhelmed her nose. Being a kitsune was more than just the name of the species of yokai she was a part of, it also had a bit of reality soaked in. As she was a fox she also had the excellent hearing and sense of smell attributed to that member of the canine family. Her two main senses were already overwhelmed by all the activity at the school. All the smells and sounds of the place was all new to her.

The smell of shampoo, the sound of loud music, the scent of somewhat decent cafeteria food, and the smell of bad aftershave, among others was going to drive her mad

'And I am going to be in this environment for the next two years?!'

"Hey guys!"

Takeru broke the tension when he called out to his friends who were standing near the school's main gate. There were two of them, all dressed in the same uniform as Takeru. One was much taller than he was while the other was sitting on the ground.

The tallest of the trio wore his uniform prim and proper, looking like a serious student. His name was Ren Takamaki, and was what one would call the 'big brother' of Takeru's circle of friends, the type that made sure everyone behaved. "You were almost late Takeru."

Takeru sighed and undid the first couple buttons of his school jacket. "I know, but I had a few issues to deal with this morning, Ren."

"Issues? What kind of lazy ass excuse is that?" Said one of the boys sitting on the ground while reading a manga. He didn't raise his eyes from the book even as Takeru talked to him. Despite the intellectual look with the thin rimmed glasses and multiple books stacked next to him, Taichi really had a dirty way of speaking when he was being casual.

"You're one to talk Taichi; I mean you're usually the last one to arrive anyway."

"But not today bitch." Classic comeback from Taichi.

Takeru didn't like that, "Hey who you calling a-!"

Ren tapped Takeru's shoulder, "And who Takeru, is this young woman?"

To be honest Takeru had almost forgotten about Megumi. She had been standing like a statue while holding her bag in her hands, and she wasn't paying any attention to her immediate surroundings as her ears were too occupied with all the activity going on around her.

Takeru straightened up, "Oh this is…" It had dawned on him that he hadn't thought up a good cover story for Megumi being around him. "My cousin from the countryside! She's staying with me for a while."

Wasn't the best excuse he could conjure up on such short notice but he hoped he'd get points for at least trying. He hated to even fantasize trying to explain to his friends the situation he had been in recently, not that they would believe him anyway.

From the look on Megumi's face he didn't win much of anything from her. Still, she went along with it as best she could, which meant as straight as an arrow. She gave a light bow, "I am Megumi, pleased to meet you."

Ren nodded, "Nice to meet you Megumi. I'm Ren Takamaki and this is Taichi Omaeda—"

Taichi had raised his head from his book, glancing Megumi up and down before standing up and doing it again.

While Megumi didn't seem to understand what made him do that, Takeru did. "Dude, did you really just do that?"

Taichi didn't say a word and went back to his book.

"Rather unsightly and rude but hey, he's a guy so that's his excuse," said Ren.

The bell rang; signaling the beginning of the school day and the friends gathered their bags and started to move. Taichi and Ren went first while Megumi and Takeru stood outside the gates for a moment.

"Those were your friends?"

"Yup, they're my best friends…" he said, waiting for the snide remark to come out of her mouth.

"They seem a decent lot, though Taichi seemed much too vulgar for his age," she said.

'Oh believe me you don't know the half of it…' Takeru thought. What he didn't want to tell Megumi and knew he was never going to was that Taichi had a real disturbing habit of figuring out a girl's body measurements after looking them over like a scanner. It was insane how accurate his numbers ended up being but despite this Taichi was one of the smartest students in the grade and usually aced every test that came his way.

Thankfully for Takeru Megumi didn't push the subject further, mostly because she heard footsteps not too far from where they stood. "Someone is approaching."

Takeru tilted his head to the side, "Huh?"

Megumi shook her head and looked in the direction from where she had heard the steps, coming from around the corner to their backs.

"So I see you managed to show up after all huh Inoue?"

A tall muscular young man stepped out from around the corner. He didn't look friendly what with his slightly hunched over look and menacing grin.

Takeru knew who it was and he wasn't happy about it. 'Not this guy…' "Okay Koga, what do you want this time?"

"Nothing…for now anyway," said the tall teem as he walked past the two, but not before giving Megumi a disturbing look.

She didn't respond, the only thing moving on her being was her eyes. She kept that until he was out of sight. "Who was he?"

"A bully who has been causing trouble for me for a while now," said Takeru as he grabbed his bag and began to walk. "We'd better get going before we're really late."

They were the last two to arrive at the classroom and not a moment too soon because the bell rang after Megumi had closed the door.

The teacher, Mr. Muto, a man in his forties and short with square glasses seemed displeased though by now he had expected as much. "You just missed being tardy again Takeru."

Takeru sighed, "Sorry, it's my cousin's first day and I didn't want her to get lost."

Mr. Muto looked down at his papers, "Cousin…? Oh, yes we do have a new student here…Megumi Inoue?"

'So we share the last name…' Takeru thought glancing to Megumi. It obviously reminded him of their secret engagement, something Megumi wanted to forget as soon as possible.

"Takeru take your seat. Megumi please remain here for a moment."

Takeru's seat was in the row next to the window at the front, and there was an empty seat directly behind him.

"Alright class, we have a new student with us starting today. Please introduce yourself."

Megumi faced the rest of the students, all twenty of them and bowed, "I am Megumi Inoue, pleased to meet you all."

"Please make her feel at home and help her settle in. Ms. Inoue you'll be in the seat behind Takeru. Now, let's all remember what we reviewed the other day." Mr. Muto finished the introduction.

Megumi went into the seat she was designated to, right behind Takeru, and she ignored the looks from all the other students.


	4. After School

Turns out the interest level in the new arrival was much bigger than even Takeru had anticipated. Though it was quiet for a while when it came around to lunch time the students all swarmed the two ‘cousins’ and bombarded them with all sorts of questions. The guys asked about Megumi things Takeru would not answer, mostly because he knew that she was more than likely listening in on what he was talking about. Meanwhile from what he could see the girls were all over Megumi though he couldn’t hear everything they were talking about. All he knew was that Megumi kept herself quiet and composed, never having an outburst of anger or annoyance, but there were times he was sure she was ignoring them outright.

“Least she’s keeping to herself,” said Takeru as he began to gather his things. After finally getting some time to himself to eat his lunch Takeru and his friends gathered in their usual spot in the corner of the lunchroom.

“Damn man why didn’t you tell us you had such a hottie for a cousin?”

Takeru looked up to see that Yuma was standing behind him and before long Ren and Taichi joined them with their food trays.

Internally sighing, Takeru thought, 'Guess after the rest of the school had to pry, leave it to my best friends to ask last.' "Honestly I didn't think you guys needed to know. We haven't seen each other in a very long time."

Ren seemed to buy it, judging by the little nod her gave in response to Takeru's lie. Taichi didn't say anything but continued to eat his lunch. Takeru never knew what he was thinking and thought it best to not ask. Yuma seemed to be the only one who wasn't buying it.

"Come on, a girl like that and you never mentioned her once since we've been friends?"

Takeru didn't like having the subject pushed on him any further, "She's a very solitary person, ok? Now let's just drop it."

The boys felt the need to keep asking, but a book slamming down on the table make them all jump slightly. Megumi had come over to the table, and she seemed as stern as before, her expression muted though she eyed Takeru like she wanted to kill him.

"Uh, hey there Megumi..." said Takeru nervously. Had something happened to make her come over here?

"The girls were bugging me. I needed to get away from them, so I have decided to join you here."

Her reply was simple and to the point, typical Megumi.

Yuma got excited at the notion that she was joining them. He stood up, "Then by all means sit here, next to me!" His attitude had completely changed since this morning.  
If looks could kill then Megumi would be convicted of murdering Yuma with the stare she gave him. Instead of sitting where he offered, Megumi instead sat across from Takeru.  
The lunch hour went by quietly after that, Takeru and Megumi both sitting quietly while the guys tried to make conversation and by the time the bell was supposed to ring the boys were packing up and getting ready to go. Ren had already left for class, he didn't like to be late. As soon as Takeru was starting to when a set of loud stomps approached their table.

Without even looking up Takeru knew who it was.

Sure enough, when Takeru lifted his chin he saw Koga standing at the end of his table. Yuma and Taichi both slithered away unnoticed, not wanting to deal with the bigger upperclassman.

The man was looking at the two who were left, and Megumi stayed sitting in her spot while Takeru looked like he was about to wet his pants.

"So, what are you two doing?"

Takeru scratched the back of his head nervously, "Getting ready to go to class, why do you ask?"

"Simple: you haven't paid the toll."

"Huh?"

"The toll from this morning. Every morning I randomly pick a student and they give me money for letting them safely get into the school. I was supposed to get paid by you. So, where's my money?"

Takeru had dreaded this. A few weeks ago Yuma had gotten called in to pay the toll and when he didn't things got out of hand in a hurry, he ended getting socked in the face as well as having all the money on him taken. He had been hoping that he wouldn't have to pay, he had no money on him to speak of.

"Uh...I don't have anything to give you--"

Koga slammed his hand down on the table in front of Takeru, and any courage the kid had left went out the window.

"What'd you say?"

Not knowing what else to say Takeru just stared at Kog, the man towering over him like a monster leering at his prey.

"He won't pay you, so leave."

The voice sounded like a godsend, though Takeru was surprised to see that Megumi had addressed Koga, no fear in her voice.

Koga was surprised, at least. "The hell did you say?"

Megumi stood up, though she was a full head shorter than Koga she wasn't backing down as she stood with her fists clenched, "I said he will not pay you. Go find money elsewhere."

It wasn't often that Koga had someone stand up to him, let alone a girl he had never seen before today, and he was certainly intrigued. "And who the hell are you?"

"Megumi Inoue, I'm that boy's cousin," she said sternly.

"Cousin?" He turned to Takeru who hadn't moved in the last minute. "Since when did you get a bitch like that as a cousin?"

"Well, she just--"

"Don't care," said Koga turning back to Megumi. "So since you're his family, I suppose that means I should get double the toll for letting you both go." His eyes wandered over Megumi, who was wearing a uniform that barely hid her curves which was no doubt one of the reasons the guys looked at her so much. Devious intentions were in Koga's eyes, "Unless you want to pay me in some other way, heh."

He extended his arm out to touch her but Megumi merely swatted his hand away, "Don't fool yourself."

Koga huffed, “Dumb bitch--!” He balled up his fist and went to strike her with a direct punch to her face.

It never connected, as Megumi moved her entire body to the right with her supernatural speed. His fist missed its intended target, and from there Megumi retaliated. She grabbed a hold of his extended arm and with minimal effort tossed him back and he slid across the table to the floor taking the few trays of food off with him. Anyone who saw that was in quite a shocked state, no less than Koga himself who got back to his feet in a rage and went right after her again. The fact that he had been taken completely off his feet was ludicrous to him to begin with.

He wanted to take another swing but stopped short for some mysterious reason. Megumi herself had not done a thing and had merely waited for him to attack again, ready to return his strike with another of her own. 

Him stopping raised the eyebrows of everyone.

The bigger surprise came when he smiled, like he realized something he hadn’t before. “You’re shitting me…” He took a big breath, realizing he wasn't going to get anywhere for now, "Fine--" he quickly turned to Takeru, "Get me my money by tomorrow, if I don't get it by then, you're dead meat." The fact that his words were given to Takeru and not to Megumi was duly noted by both of them.

He walked away, and Takeru sighed in relief, "That was close."

Megumi looked down at him with a disappointed expression. “And that is why I have no empathy for humans. You weren’t able to do anything but stand there.”

Takeru's jaw dropped, "What did you expect me to do?!"

The crowd around them began to enclose on the two as they argued, but Takeru noticed it immediately and thankfully Megumi noticed the people around them. 

He couldn't believe her reaction and yet he shouldn't have been. 

'I'm going to have to talk with her about this later, we better get the heck out of here before anything more happens.'


End file.
